New Taipei man arrested after growing marijuana in his home

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- New Taipei police yesterday arrested a suspect for his alleged involvement in selling and planting marijuana in his home, according to the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB, 刑事警察局).

Police received information that someone had been planting marijuana this June in Bali District of New Taipei City.

Following two months of investigation, the police yesterday arrested the suspect surnamed Wang, 35, who has studied abroad for several years. They also found a total of 662 marijuana plants during the raid.

The police said Wang comes from a wealthy family. Speaking fluent English, he studied abroad since he was an elementary school student, and has previously lived in the U.S. and Canada.

According to police, Wang frequently visits nightclubs in Taiwan where he learned that there is a huge market for selling marijuana. Three years ago, he asked his friends to bring back marijuana seeds from the Netherlands and he began to plant them at his home.

Wang used hydroponics to grow the plants. Through this method, marijuana is grown in water instead of soil, which is more efficient than the traditional method, the police said.

According to the police, Wang sold marijuana at the price of NT$500,000 per kilogram to drug addicts.

The case has now been referred to New Taipei prosecutors, the CIB said.